1And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for
each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their
fathers' houses, twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his
rod. 3And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of
Levi; for there shall be one rod for each head of their fathers'
houses. 4And thou shalt lay them up in the tent of
meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. 5And it shall come to pass, that the rod of the man whom I shall
choose shall bud: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of
the children of Israel, which they murmur against you. 6And Moses spake unto the children of Israel; and all their princes
gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers'
houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
7And Moses laid up the rods before Jehovah in the tent
of the testimony.

8And it came to pass on the morrow,
that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and, behold, the rod
of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and
produced blossoms, and bare ripe almonds. 9And Moses
brought out all the rods from before Jehovah unto all the children
of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. 10And Jehovah said unto Moses, Put back the rod of Aaron before the
testimony, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion;
that thou mayest make an end of their murmurings against me, that
they die not. 11Thus did Moses: as Jehovah commanded
him, so did he.

12And the children of Israel spake unto
Moses, saying, Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone.
13Every one that cometh near, that cometh near unto the
tabernacle of Jehovah, dieth: shall we perish all of us?

18 Numbers 18

1And Jehovah said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and
thy fathers' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the
sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity
of your priesthood. 2And thy brethren also, the tribe of
Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou near with thee, that they
may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy
sons with thee shall be before the tent of the testimony. 3And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the Tent: only
they shall not come nigh unto the vessels of the sanctuary and unto
the altar, that they die not, neither they, nor ye. 4And
they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tent of
meeting, for all the service of the Tent: and a stranger shall not
come nigh unto you. 5And ye shall keep the charge of the
sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that there be wrath no more
upon the children of Israel. 6And I, behold, I have
taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel:
to you they are a gift, given unto Jehovah, to do the service of the
tent of meeting. 7And thou and thy sons with thee shall
keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that
within the veil; and ye shall serve: I give you the priesthood as a
service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to
death.

8And Jehovah spake unto Aaron, And I, behold, I
have given thee the charge of my heave-offerings, even all the
hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given
them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, as a portion for
ever. 9This shall be thine of the most holy things,
reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, even every
meal-offering of theirs, and every sin-offering of theirs, and every
trespass-offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall
be most holy for thee and for thy sons. 10As the most
holy things shalt thou eat thereof; every male shall eat thereof: it
shall be holy unto thee. 11And this is thine: the
heave-offering of their gift, even all the wave-offerings of the
children of Israel; I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and
to thy daughters with thee, as a portion for ever; every one that is
clean in thy house shall eat thereof. 12All the best of
the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the
first-fruits of them which they give unto Jehovah, to thee have I
given them. 13The first-ripe fruits of all that is in
their land, which they bring unto Jehovah, shall be thine; every one
that is clean in thy house shall eat thereof. 14Everything devoted in Israel shall be thine. 15Everything that openeth the womb, of all flesh which they offer unto
Jehovah, both of man and beast shall be thine: nevertheless the
first-born of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of
unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. 16And those that are
to be redeemed of them from a month old shalt thou redeem, according
to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel
of the sanctuary (the same is twenty gerahs). 17But the
firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of
a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are holy: thou shalt sprinkle
their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for an offering
made by fire, for a sweet savor unto Jehovah. 18And the
flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave-breast and as the right
thigh, it shall be thine. 19All the heave-offerings of
the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto Jehovah,
have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, as a
portion for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before Jehovah
unto thee and to thy seed with thee. 20And Jehovah said
unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither
shalt thou have any portion among them: I am thy portion and thine
inheritance among the children of Israel.

21And unto the
children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for
an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even
the service of the tent of meeting. 22And henceforth the
children of Israel shall not come nigh the tent of meeting, lest
they bear sin, and die. 23But the Levites shall do the
service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity:
it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations; and
among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a
heave-offering unto Jehovah, I have given to the Levites for an
inheritance: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of
Israel they shall have no inheritance.

25And Jehovah
spake unto Moses, saying, 26Moreover thou shalt speak
unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of
Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your
inheritance, then ye shall offer up a heave-offering of it for
Jehovah, a tithe of the tithe. 27And your heave-offering
shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the grain of the
threshing-floor, and as the fulness of the winepress. 28Thus ye also shall offer a heave-offering unto Jehovah of all your
tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and thereof ye
shall give Jehovah's heave-offering to Aaron the priest. 29Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave-offering of
Jehovah, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out
of it. 30Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye
heave the best thereof from it, then it shall be reckoned unto the
Levites as the increase of the threshing-floor, and as the increase
of the wine-press. 31And ye shall eat it in every place,
ye and your households: for it is your reward in return for your
service in the tent of meeting. 32And ye shall bear no
sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best thereof:
and ye shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel,
that ye die not.

The Holy
Bible, American Standard Version - First published in the year of
our Lord (Anno Domini) AD 1901, by Thomas Nelson & Sons, Publishers.
Also called the Standard American Edition - Revised Version.www.BibleABC.net